| Editorial: Lawmakers must stop developers''SLAPP' suits
As acronyms go, "SLAPP" suit is perfect. It stands for "strategic lawsuits against public participation," but slap -- as in a backhander across the chops -- is the operative term. That's slap as in abuse, bully and intimidate. It's legal extortion and it's got to stop. In development circles, SLAPP suits -- such as ones filed by Meijer, Inc. and the Village at Grand Traverse LLC against Acme Township officials -- are nearly perfect weapons. They are filed against planning commission members or township trustees as individuals, not in their official capacity, which means the people being sued can't depend on the township's insurance policy to defend them. Private citizens who get too mouthy are often targeted, too. If the person being sued needs a lawyer, he pays the fees.
Chinese-Canadian star apologizes for sex photo scandal
A Chinese celebrity sex scandal came to a head on Thursday, with Vancouver-born actor and singer Edison Chen apologizing for widely-circulated photos showing him and several women apparently engaged in sex acts. Chen held a press conference in Hong Kong to publicly address for the first time the ongoing controversy, which has shocked the Chinese-speaking world for weeks. Vancouver-born actor and singer Edison Chen admitted he took the racy photos and apologized for the controversy during a news conference in Hong Kong Thursday. (Kin Cheung/Associated Press) The scandal began when the 27-year-old performer sent his laptop computer to a shop for repair. The computer contained approximately 1,300 photos of Chen and a bevy of female Chinese celebrities either posed suggestively or engaged in sex acts, according to police.
Filed under: NFL
-The worst month for sports is what were going through right now. The NBA is hitting the mid-season and there is yet to be any real excitement. You have the NFL that just got over a month ago, and yes, we're all sad because that marks the end of football for another 6-7 months. College Football recruiting is always fun, but we all know that in a sense it is just a waiting game that is boring. We have College Basketball hitting conference schedules real hard which is truely fun to watch, but we then enter the conference tournaments and they mean nothing. MLB isen't even heard of in this month, and NASCAR has qualifying on the week before Daytona. Isen't that just interesting. The month of February is a complete let-down. This month is almost worthless in the world of sports. I mean, the NBA season may be shaping up, but there is another 40 games to be played.
Raising the 'Roof': Tour launch in Plains is special for Montana Rep ...
The actors make their curtain call in front of enthusiastic applause from the Plains audience. After the show, the actors and crew are treated to a home-cooked meal that has become a traditional part of the Plains production.
Photo by KURT WILSON/Missoulian
Click here for audio slide show .
Emmy Award-winning speaker talks about importance of environmental ...
The path to sustainability comes one step at a time, said David Chameides, environmentalist, worm cultivator and personal garbage collector. The Emmy Award Winner and now-public speaker told a packed crowd at Chico State University Thursday about things each person can do to make a small impact on global warming. Contemplating the amount of energy used on earth is too big for any one person to dwell upon, he explained. But creating easy-to-form habits now will make life easier on future generations. Americans use 26 percent of the power in the world, he said, which is "unacceptable." "This is not hard stuff. It just takes a different type of thinking," he said. Some easy steps: Use less electricity. Because electricity is ubiquitous, people do not think abut where it comes from and the resources used to create it.
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